This isn't about me being Canadian...

April 17 2004 at 2:47 PM

D'Artagnon77 (no login) from IP address 24.226.120.205

Burgie...

.....Whether I'm Canadian, or American...that's not the point. It's not about definite, absolute truth...and it's not about pay grades. You know Burgie, in its simplest form, without concrete proof, at the pay grade of your everyday John Q. Public, it breaks down to a perception of right vs wrong. It breaks down to whether or not President Bush and/or members of his Administration are believable...and too many people, right now, think he's not.

.....It's not that I believe President Bush doesn't have a clue, I'm on record as saying I believe he was a better choice than Al Gore in the last election, and in the wake of 9/11, I doubt Gore would have been as decisive as President Bush with regards to going after the terrorists. I was behind President Bush with regards to the War on Terror...THE WAR ON TERROR, but then President Bush initiated a War Against Iraq, and regardless of what you believe, I believe they are not the same thing...and they're not.

.....Nobody's disputing Saddam Hussein was a very bad guy, nobody's disputing his past record against the Kurds, or his attack against Kuwait...and nobody denies his bad treatment of his own people. He was a bad guy Burgie, and yes, the world is a better place without him...but contrary to your belief, the belief the US has the God-given right to determine who can and who cannot be the leader of other countries, by forcing the US will on other countries, the US is wrong. It's been proven Iraq was not a direct threat to the US, but the US is proving it is certainly a threat to Middle East, and with President Bush in charge, possibly to the entire planet.

.....For months now, you, Octo, HR and DA have all been critical of Canada's lack of support for the US invasion of Iraq, despite Canada's proven commitment to the War on Terror, with troops in Afghanistan...and our previous support during the Gulf War. Canada has had ground pounders with American soldiers all over the World, we've committed ships and aircraft to many US-led missions... and let's not forget, on 9/11, when all hell broke lose, Canada opened its doors to every American aircraft flying that day without absolute proof (there's your faith) that these aircraft did not contain more hijackers and/or bombs, and Canadians, they personally opened their homes to Americans until the flight restrictions were lifted... it's only in Iraq where Canada has said no to the US, and for this, you all have been trashing Canada, not just Canadian policies, but trashing Canada and Canadians because we chose to do what we feel is best for Canada, because we do not believe the War Against Iraq is the same as the War on Terror. And you can say President Bush is only doing what he believes is best for the US, I can't deny that, but the US actions are aggressive in nature...this is not self-defense. It is the US who is attacking another country, unjustly inititating the War Against Iraq, and the risk of starting WWIII certainly should have outweighed ousting Hussein and putting in a puppet US government in Iraq.

.....Lastly, as for whether I (a Canadian National) have the right or do not have the right to question President Bush's motives, or whether he's believable, well, if he, or you, or anyone else is going to ask me (a Canadian National) to take part in a US invasion of Iraq, I believe I have the right to question its legitimacy... and I certainly believe I have the right to expect the truth, and I certainly have the right to say no if I'm not convinced the reasons are valid...D'